Smile for Zuzu
by genki-escapist
Summary: The history behind a prince's nickname and the smile it brought to a porcelain doll's face. [Chibi Fire Nation Cast, ZukoxMai]


**Author's Notes:** I'm not a one-shot person, but this idea hit me like a firebending blast straight into an apple. Chibi Fire Nation cast and ZukoxMai, because they're awesome. Writtenpost-"Bitter Work".

**Disclaimer: I sure don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender".**

**Smile for Zuzu**

A flick of her fingers sent the small piece of bread right under the smallest turtle-duckling's beak. The creature pecked at it and waded towards the edge of the pond, to the young girl who had broken another tiny morsel from the bun she held in her little hands, and itate the second piece out of her palm.

Across the water, Zuko shredded a bread bun, but made no attempts to throw it to the turtle-ducklings who were now crowding around the girl. He watched Mai; her manner quiet, her porcelain doll-like face impassive, so that she looked even more like a doll. He accidentally dropped a large piece of bread—it fell in the water with a plop—and Mai looked up from the turtle-ducklings and saw him watching her. She blushed and looked away, Zuko looking away just as fast.

A moment later, Zuko sneaked a peek her way. She was feeding the turtle-ducklings with bread crumbs on her palms. He had seen a smile on her face the split-second before she turned away. It wasn't often that he saw the doll-like girl smile. He dropped small pieces of bread in the pond, and a few of the turtle-ducks waded to his side of the pond.

Girlish giggles tinkled in the air, and his sister, Azula, chased her other friend, Ty Lee, across the garden and around the pond. Startled, the turtle-ducks skittered away from the edge of the pond and Zuko's outstretched hands. He frowned.

"They're scaring the ducks away, Mom," he complained.

Princess Ursa looked up from plucking the strings of her koto and smiled. "Azula and her friends want to play with the turtle-ducklings too."

"But she's not playing with them, she's scaring them." Zuko stuck out his lower lip.

"Your sister is a lively girl," Princess Ursa said. They heard a squeak and looked up in time to see Azula shove Ty Lee upon catching up with her. "Too lively…" Princess Ursa added.

Zuko huffed. "She's just mean."

"Now, Zuko, why do you say that?"

"Azula's always playing pranks on me, Mom. Especially in front of her friends. Just the other day she tricked me into falling into the fountain with Mai." He flushed at the memory. "I got wet."

"Oh? So that explains why you were dripping wet then." Ursa pinched his red cheeks. "How did your sister trick you?"

"She told me the game we'd play was about removing the apple from another person's head, and she placed an apple on Mai's head. But she used firebending and set it on fire. I was worried that Mai would get burned so I tried to remove it and I ended up—pushing us into the… fountain…"

Ursa smiled with pride and patted his head. "That was very brave of you, saving Mai like that. I am sure she appreciates it."

Zuko flushed again. "That's not the point Mom!"

"I know, Zuko. In any case, your sister just wants to spend time with you. You are older than she is, so forgive her little jokes."

"I know, she's my sister and I have to try and get along with her, right?"

"That is right, dear." Princess Ursa ruffled his hair before turning back to her koto.

Across the lake, Azula and Ty Lee sat down beside Mai, each one pulling a bread bun from the basket. Ty Lee bit into hers and Azula tore a chunk from her bun and threw it at a turtle-duckling. It quacked and waded away.

"How dumb." Azula pushed the bun into Mai's hands, who crumbled it and gently threw the pieces, each piece falling in front of a turtle-duck. "Give me that!" Azula snatched the bun away from Mai and threw more too-large pieces at the scared turtle-ducks. "Stupid ducks!" She grabbed the rest of the buns from the basket and threw them at the ducks, shaking off Mai and Ty Lee when they tried to stop her.

"Don't!" Zuko yelled, standing up. He heard their mother gasp and scramble to her feet. Azula screamed. Princess Ursa gathered her skirts and ran to her daughter's aid. Zuko followed her.

"Get away from me!" Azula screamed as the turtle-ducks crept towards her. She kicked out at the nearest one.

"Azula!" Princess Ursa reached for the aggravated turtle-ducks around Azula who was kicking wildly. "Azula, my dear, please calm down."

"Oh, Azula!" Ty Lee cried.

"Stop kicking!" Zuko yelled, pulling away a turtle-duck that had latched itself unto the pointy toe of Azula's boot.

"Hiyaah!" Azula swung her hand in a wide arc, a trail of fire in its wake, sending the turtle-ducks flying to Mai and Ty Lee. Mai's eyes widened and Ty Lee squealed, hugging Mai and hiding behind her.

"Come back!" Zuko shouted and jumped in front of thetwo girls. Turtle-ducks landed on him. "Ow!" He shook them off as they bit at his clothes. "Back, to the pond!"

Mai plucked a turtle-duck off her sleeve. Ty Lee screamed at the other turtle-duck on Mai's shoulder, and tried to shake it off the other girl, but ended up shoving her instead. Zuko caught Mai around the waist, and hastily pulled the last turtle-duck off her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes…" she nodded, and then slowly, a smile bloomed on her delicate doll's face. "I'm okay." Startled, Zuko grinned.

"I'm alright, Mom." Azula disentangled herself from Princess Ursa's embrace. She smirked at Zuko who was still holding Mai. "Ooh, Zuko's in looooove!"

Zuko and Mai both turned red. He quickly pulled away and turned to Azula. "You're crazy!" He stalked off, stomping past Azula.

He heard Azula call: "Hey Ty Lee…" Then there was giggling. "Zuko!" Azula called after him.

"I'm not talking to you," Zuko shouted over his shoulder.

"Mom," Azula said sweetly. "Zuko won't talk to me."

Zuko stopped in his tracks and pouted even before their mother could put a hand on his shoulder and say: "Zuko, why not listen to what your sister has to say?"

Wary, Zuko glanced at Ursa who nodded encouragingly at him. He sighed and approached Azula. Ty Lee had already pulled Mai towards Azula. The two girls were saying something to her and her golden eyes widened in response.

"Zuko," Azula waved a hand for him to come closer. "Mai wants to tell you something."

Mai had dropped her gaze to her small hands, slender fingers playing. A delicate pink hue tinted her porcelain cheeks.

"Maiiiii…" Azula nudged her towards Zuko.

"I…" Mai looked up, meeting his gaze with her pale gold eyes. The color in her cheeks deepened and she looked away for a moment, before her eyes fluttered to meet his again. Zuko pulled himself up stiffly, almost belligerently, trying to ignore how his cheeks grew hot.

"Mai, go on, say it," Azula urged.

"Zu-zu-zu…" Mai stammered. "That is, th-thank you… for rescuing me from the flaming apple and the turtle-ducks." She said those last words in a rush.

"He didn't hear you," Azula said in sing-song.

"Yes I did," Zuko retorted. Azula elbowed him. "Ow!"

"Th-Thank you…" Mai murmured. "Zu-zu… Zu-zu—"

"Go on, Mai, you can do it!" Ty Lee cheered.

"Zu-zu—"

"Zuzu?" Azula laughed. "Why, I think that name suits him!"

Mai gaped slightly in horror as Zuko cried: "What?"

"You heard me," Azula chanted, "Zuzu."

"What did you call me?"

"I called you 'Zuzu', Zuzu."

"Stop calling me 'Zuzu'!"

"Whatever you say…" Azula grinned wickedly, "Zuzu." She and Ty Lee laughed heartily.

"That's a cute petname you got for him, Mai," Ty Lee giggled.

Mai pouted, a frown marring her pale face.

"AARGH!" Zuko threw up his arms in the air and stormed away. "They're crazy, I tell you!" He complained as he stomped past his mother.

His mother glided beside him, touching her chin thoughtfully. "I think it is a cute nickname, maybe a little unsuitable for a prince, but it sounds endearing."

"Mom!"

"I think Mai is very fond of you," Princess Ursa said.

"Mom, I don't care!" Zuko griped, rubbing at his red face.

"Maybe not now…" she reached down and patted his cheek. "But one day, you will care. All boys do when they grow up."

"No way. Girls are crazy."

Princess Ursa laughed. "You will probably keep that opinion, but trust me my dear, you will still care one day. For now, make her smile whenever you can… She is lovely when she smiles, is she not?"

Zuko blinked. He looked up and saw his mother's knowing smile. "Hmp," he huffed. "I never noticed."

* * *

The next day, he was running to meet his firebending master, nearly late for training already. He cut through the gardens and stopped short when he saw Azula, Ty Lee and Mai. He didn't particularly want to see his sister, but it was better than being late for training. 

He strode purposefully on the path. It led to a bridge that went over a stream, and on the bridge rail perched the three girls. They turned when they heard him coming, Mai's face immediately becoming pink. Azula smirked.

Zuko frowned and stomped deliberately past his sneering sister. "Hi…. Zuzu!" She laughed.

He firmly ignored Azula and strode past Ty Lee. "Hi Zuzu!" The other girl greeted cheerfully. Zuko ignored her as well. "Why doesn't he respond, Azula? Zuzu's a cute name."

Mai frowned at her friends before turning to Zuko. She slightly raised a hand. "Hello, Zu-Zu—uh, I mean…" She looked down as Zuko walked past.

He forced himself to walk on but his mother's words nagged him. _One day, you will care. She is lovely when she smiles, is she not?_ He stuck out his lower lip. Walk, walk, walk.

_Make her smile._

And though he knew Azula would definitely never let go of the nickname should he answer to it even once, he looked over his shoulder and muttered: "Hi Mai."

Her pouty lips formed a delicate smile that warmed her eyes to liquid gold.

"So you like being called 'Zuzu' after all, Zuzu!" his sister's words faded into the air as he ran to firebending training.

_She is lovely when smiles._

**Author's Notes (again) : **I wanted to toy with several ideas here. One, the nickname 'Zuzu'. It sounds like a childhood nickname and I saw someone comment somewhere that he/she thought it would be cute if Mai was Zuko's childhood girlfriend and gave him the nickname, and that gave me an idea. (Stuttering inspired by Hyuuga Hinata of _Naruto_. ) Two, I wanted to give Zuko some more bonding time with his mommy, and give him a bit of advice about girls. Three, to have Zuko try and make Mai smile. I also wanted to show a bit of Azula's relationship with her friends, her brother, and their mother… admittedly, I want to write some more about it, so I'll probably put up something soon.

And yes, I'm aware the theories here would probably be debunked by future episodes, but it's still fun to turn speculations in fanfiction.

Thank you for reading, please review and remember: comments are fun, constructive criticism is love, and flaming is something that should be done only by firebenders. We all have our theories, ships, and ideas of filling in the backgrounds ofthe new characters, and it's fun that way.


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